News / Bristol children's hospital
Hero doctor swims the Channel for charity
Bristolian cardiac and intensive care doctor Andy Wolf has been branded a ‘hero’ after powering through 21 miles of cold water, strong tides and stinging jellyfish to swim the English Channel in just under 13 hours.
Andy, 63, has worked at Bristol Children’s Hospital for over 20 years, and completed the swim in aid of The Grand Appeal. His aim is to raise £20,000 towards establishing a 3D bio-printing service at the Children’s Hospital, which will eventually enable a patient’s own cells to be used to make individualised tissues that grow with a child after surgery, reducing the need for repeat operations.
However, his attempt got off to a choppy start when his swim was delayed by two days due to bad weather conditions. “You never know when you’re going to start as you’re dependent on the right tide and the right weather,” Andy says. “All you do is spend your time looking at weather apps in the hotel. It drives you mad.”
is needed now More than ever
Andy at his day job as an intensive care and cardiac doctor at Bristol Children’s Hospital
Andy finally set off for his swim at 5am on August 6 2018. “It was eerie,” Andy recalls. “It was still dark. I hadn’t slept for two nights. I was frightened but you’ve got to get into the mindset of: ‘This is going to happen’. You’ve just got to tell yourself you’re going to do it.”
There were many physical challenges of the swim that Andy had to endure and overcome: “Firstly there’s the sheer distance. Plus it’s cold – hypothermia is a problem. Then there’s acute shoulder pain and the chronic pain of tiredness and exhaustion. I got cramp in my legs and sea sickness. The water was also full of jellyfish which sting – some have got long tentacles and as they go past your face, it feels like being stung by an electric fence.
“But 80 per cent of the challenge is mental. The demons come out when you swim on your own for that length of time, telling you: ‘You can’t do this’. It’s important to concentrate on the positives and not let that seed of negativity in. I was very careful not to pass a negative thought to the people on the boat because once you’ve said it, it’s out there.”
Fewer people have swum the Channel than have climbed Everest
The Channel Swimming Association (CSA) have a code of rules which all swimmers must abide by, and a representative from the organisation was on board the boat that accompanied Andy across the Channel, ensuring his swim could be counted as a true crossing. “You can’t touch the boat – if you touch the boat, you’re disqualified,” Andy explains. “You’re also not allowed to touch another human during the swim, so food is passed to you by a long pole from the boat. Wetsuits aren’t allowed – just goggles, a hat and trunks. Also, if you don’t take your passport, you can’t start!”
Swimmers don’t swim in a straight line across the Channel, as changes in tides mean most tend to make their way across in an ‘S’ shape, aiming for a certain spot in France: “The sweet spot for landing is Cap Gris Nez, which is a rocky outcrop that sticks out into the Channel. Once you’ve swept past Cap Gris Nez, you’re in trouble. If you miss it, you can easily add four hours onto your swim.
“I could see Cap Gris Nez in the distance but a big tide was coming in. I could smell the worry from the boat and was starting to get anxious looks from my crew. So I abandoned proper feeds and started swimming more like in an indoor pool. The last 45 minutes were flat-out and I just managed to get inside Cap Gris Nez by just 75 metres.”
Andy (centre) on his way home surrounded by family and friends
On finally reaching dry land some 13 hours after setting off, Andy says: “The last two miles off the French coast is the hardest, as you don’t have the strength to pull through the tide. There was a lot of emotion on the boat but it was completely unemotional for me. There was 25 metres to go and all I could think was, ‘how am I going to get myself vertical?’.
“I kept telling myself that once I got there I wouldn’t have to move my arms anymore. I managed to crawl out onto the shore and the overriding emotion was a huge sense of relief.”
To donate to Andy’s fundraising efforts and help him reach his £20,000 target, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/solochannelswim2018
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